THE first phase of Southport’s £5m state-of-the-art dementia care facility has been completed.

A brood of chickens were the first residents to move in to Birch Abbey – described as the UK’s most advanced dementia care resource.

The flagship 60-bed home on Alexandra Road will serve the whole of Merseyside.

Patients will now move from the nearby old building to the purpose-built facility. Once everyone has moved, the original building – also on Alexandra Road – will be rebuilt as a second facility, providing more beds and admin space.

Chief executive of owners iPersonally, Dan Lingard, said: “The first residents will actually be several chickens – they’re an important part of our community, and a clear illustration of the approach we’ll be taking at the new Birch Abbey.

“We may have technology and facilities never before seen in a UK dementia care home, but it is the pioneering approach – acknowledged and documented across the care sector – that makes us truly different.

“Getting people with dementia using their minds and muscles – even in seemingly small ways – can have a massively positive effect.

“We’re creating a living sensory garden – the chickens draw residents out into the garden, they provide a talking point. What’s more, our patients collect the eggs, make cakes or biscuits and talk about what they’re doing amongst themselves and to their family members providing valuable mental stimulus.”

Other facilities at the state-of-the-art centre include three types of assisted bathrooms, in-room technology and sensors meaning clients don’t have to be disturbed while they are asleep.

Mr Lingard added: “Our new and expanded Birch Abbey will be a revolution in care services. To us it just felt right that Southport with its long tradition as a caring community should lead this revolution and the birth of a new era in care.”